Vasantha Urchavam is a ten day Festival depicting the blossoming of
love. During this sacred event, Swami and Amman are gorgeously decorated with
jewels. They are taken with great ceremony in Mahapradakshina round the sacred
Mahila Maram (trees) within the Third Prakaram—ten times every night for ten
days = 100 times.
The third day of Vasantha Urchavam celebrates the birth of Manmatha,
also known as Kama the God of love (lust). Manmatha is depicted looking for
Siva.
At 9 p.m. on the fifth and eighth days the Temple lights are switched
off so that the procession is in the dark. After going around the sacred Mahila
Maram ten times the lights are switched back on to great rejoicing.
Lord Shiva opens His third eye on the final days of the Festival and
the burning of Manmatha takes place.
During this sacred Festival the Jumbo Keswara Lingam, that is set in
stone on the raised platform in the midst of the sacred trees is filled to
capacity with water. Plants and flowers are placed to float inside the recess
of the Lingam, appearing to make the Lingam levitate and blossom.
[Extract from The Light of Arunachaleswarar]
Each evening for the first nine
nights of this Festival, Lord Somaskanda (a form of Siva/Pavarthi) is brought
to the Paneer (Rose-water) Mandapam in the 3rd prakam. During this function the
Gods are showered with flowers by the Gandharva Kanya enactd by the celestial nymph
in the form of a puppet.
The Kanya puppet comes many times
to the Paneer Mandapam and showers buckets of flowers onto the Gods. Afterwards
ten processional rounds around the Makila Trees takes place, accompanied by
musicians and singers. At the completion of each round, the Gods dance in front
of a mirror and then remain seated under the Paneer Mandapam while receiving
two floral showers from the Gandharva Kanya.
During the Vasantha Utsavam Festival,
the appearance of the Gandharva kanya (celestial virgin nymph) represents the
expression of desire and the virtue of union which is further emphasised by the
flowers, fragrance and music of the ritual.
Gandharvas are celestial beings
and also musicians. In Hindu mythology, the Gandharvas are demi-gods, who are
somewhat less powerful than the Devas.
They are sometimes said to reside in
the Swargaloka, but some sources put their abode as Gandharvaloka. Their
father is sage Kashyapa and their mother is Arishta, a daughter of
Daksha. They specialise in dance and music, and are also skilled in dark magic.
They are the guardians of Soma,
the divine nectar of immortality and teacher of the Moon who is also called
Soma. The Gandharvas are attributed with a mystical power over women and the
right to possess them. They are invoked in traditional Hindu marriage
ceremonies and in the Brahmin tradition, the bride who is to be married is
supposed to belong first to Soma, to Gandharva and to Agni before becoming the
wife of a human being. A Gandharva marriage is a love marriage (not an arranged
one). The wives of the Gandharva men are usually celestial damsels, apsaras.
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| The Puppeteers in charge of the pulley system on adjacent gallery |
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| The Gandharva Kanya on her way to the Gods |
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| Nearing the Gods on their palanquin at the Paneer Mandapam |
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| Adorning the Gods with flowers |
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| Each evening of the 9 nights, the Gandharva Kanya is beautifully and differently dressed |
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| Puppet in White and Gold nearing the Gods with her bucket of flowers |
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| Another evening, and another dress for the Gandharva Kanya |
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| A Kanya dressed beautifully in blue |
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| The Kanya puppet in close-up |
